The Brentwood Municipal Budget Committee on Nov. 24 approved two Select Board'proposed budget lines and put review of other departmental budgets on hold until the Select Board formalizes and communicates its decisions.

Chair Speaker 1 opened the meeting and led a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance before the committee moved into budget items. The committee approved the Select Board'proposed insurance account for 2026 at $196,120 (an increase of $10,009, or 5.4%), then approved the Select Board'proposed general government budget at $66,825 (a reduction of $45,001, or 40.2% from the prior line) by voice vote.

Why it matters: committee members spent a large portion of the meeting addressing process and communication issues after department heads and the Select Board submitted differing placeholders (3% vs. 2.8%) for salary increases. Multiple members urged that the Select Board or town administration send written notice to department heads confirming the Select Board'approved 2.8% figure so department heads are not working from inconsistent assumptions.

Process dispute and policy context: a committee member raised concerns that the Select Board'appointed ex'officio representative on the committee appears expected by that board to vote in alignment with Select Board decisions. The Select Board representative told the committee the Select Board expects alignment and noted their board can replace its representative. The committee chair said she had reviewed the RSA governing budget committees and consulted NHMA guidance and stated, "It says clearly she can vote the way she wants." That exchange framed members' debate over whether to proceed to consider budgets that the Select Board had not yet reapproved.

Action taken: facing that procedural uncertainty, members agreed the chair would not place on the committee agenda any departmental budgets that the Select Board has not first voted and transmitted as a revised proposed budget. In practice that means several resubmitted departmental budgets will be held until the Select Board completes its reopening and forwards final proposals.

Votes at a glance:
- Insurance budget (Select Board proposed): motion to approve $196,120; roll-call recorded ayes from Kath, Gabby and Letty and the chair declared the motion passed. (Motion and roll-call: SEG 753'SEG 784.)
- General government (Select Board proposed): motion to accept $66,825; passed by voice vote. (Motion: SEG 1328'SEG 1362.)

Details and questions raised: members asked whether workers'comp and insurance calculations account for current vacancies or projected hires; staff said the insurer's quote uses payroll trends and a loss-ratio adjustment and may not be recalculated for short-term staffing changes. The committee also questioned a reduced grant-writer line and the placement of Brentwood Newsletter expenses among budget lines; the town administrator and staff committed to locate the newsletter charges and to improve written communications about changed assumptions.

Next steps: the committee set a tentative follow-up meeting for Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. to resume budget reviews once the Select Board finishes reopening and transmits revised proposed budgets. The meeting adjourned with members exchanging holiday wishes.